In the Cage

In the Cage is a novella by Henry James first published as a book in 1898. This long story centers on an unnamed London telegraphist. She deciphers clues to her clients personal lives from the often cryptic telegrams they submit to her as she sits in the “cage” at the post office. Sensitive and intelligent the telegraphist eventually finds out more than she may want to know. An unnamed telegraphist works in the branch post office at Cocker’s a grocer in a fashionable London neighborhood. Her fiancé a decent if unpolished man named Mr. Mudge wants her to move to a less expensive neighborhood to save money and to be near him at all times. She refuses because she likes the glimpses of society life she gets from the telegrams at her current location.